Putting the Pieces Together
by FallenPerfection
Summary: After one attempt, Kanji successfully ask Naoto to be girlfriend. There still difficulties though. The true challenge is staying together throughout their insecurities, other's sticking their nose in their business, and conflicting occupations.
1. Success!

A/N: Boom shakalaka boom KanjixNaoto go! Short chapter.

* * *

Kanji sat thoughtlessly on the roof of Yasogami High. He was literally just sitting there staring at the sky. Not a thought passed through his mind. Usually he thought about something else to avoid the problem at hand but this time he just turned it all off. The troubled young man was too exhausted to distract himself. He had stayed up late into the night thinking about the arrangement he had made after Yosuke's harsh teasing. Since Souji left, Yosuke had become even more out of line.

"Woah, do you still like dudes? You don't ever even seem interested in girls, no matter how cute." Yosuke teased Kanji, only half jokingly. After that, Kanji was pissed. He immediately pulled out his phone and text Noato a request to go on a date. That had occurred a few days before and Kanji wasn't able to talk to Naoto casually afterwards.

Finally a thought came back into focus, if he kept sitting there he'd be late. He forced himself to stand and dejectedly went towards the door. His bulky figure started a slow walk down the stairs but his mind was still on the roof, thinking only of the simplicity in the blue sky. His body went into automatic mode so he didn't notice the small figure running up the stairs. Their bodies collided and the small girl tumbled back over the stairs behind her.

Seeing the girl falling brought Kanji's brain back to his body. The cap fell off her head and her dark blue hair flew into her face. She grunted. Her eyes shut tight from both pain and surprise. Slowly, she looked up at the burly boy in front of her, "Kanji..."

Kanji quickly grabbed Naoto's arm and hauled her up. "I'm sorry." He picked up her hat and handed it to her. He frowned slightly when he looked at her, it was like what he was dreading to face ran head first into him. Actually, it wasn't like that, that was exactly what happened. "You okay?"

Naoto nodded her head solemnly, "Indeed I am." She looked up at Kanji's face. The dark circles around his eyes were obvious, he couldn't have gotten more than two hours of sleep. "The arrangement, as you said, date, you asked for me to accompany you upon was scheduled to begin thirty minutes ago. I assumed you would be up here and came to check." She didn't sound angry nor look upset, in fact, she was trying to keep from sounding excited. For at least the last month Naoto didn't want anything more than a date with Kanji Tatsumi.

His jaw slackened from slight surprise. "Thirty minutes? I felt like I was up there for three minutes. " Kanji sighed. He grabbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes. "You know, if you don' wanna come you don' have to. It won' hurt my feelings or nothin'." That was a lie, he'd be bummed as hell.

Naoto smiled and shook her head, "No..it will not be a problem. I'm actually quite looking forward to it, to be honest." Kanji raised an eyebrow. _Maybe, a little too honest,_ Noato silently scolded herself. "Well, I've never been on a 'date' before so it will be a new experience for me."

Kanji grinned at the girl before him, "Same here." He shrugged, "I don' even know if it could be considered a date if we have no idea what we're supposed to be doing on a date."

"Well calling it a 'date' obviously refers to it being an arranged meeting. It is used to describe the meeting of two people interested in getting to know each other better. Whether the interest continues to intimacy is decided by whether or not the two enjoy each other's company and find the other's personality or physique appealing. How fast things go are based upon what the participants' intentions are." Naoto didn't take a breath between sentences like she was reading off a cue card. She looked up at Kanji's confused face and blushed, "A-at least that was how it was explained to me."_ I'm too n-nervous for this. Even my thoughts can't think straight._

"Ah, well.." Kanji paused. He couldn't find the words to say. _Think of something before it gets awkwarder, Tatsumi!_ "That's prob'ly right. Let's get going." Kanji and Naoto walked together to Souzai Daigaku and bought some steak skewers before heading to Samegawa River.

When they sat down to eat Naoto decided it was time to start a conversation. _Something simple. Something that won't cause conflict._ "This place is beautiful. This whole town is beautiful. I wish I could've grown up somewhere like this."

Kanji frowned, "I'm glad you didn't." He looked at Naoto's perplexed expression. "If you did, you wouldn't be you. You'd be a different version of you. One not as cool or smart.." He could have continued, he had a million more words to describe Naoto. His better judgment told him to stop there though.

"Oh." She blushed and averted her eyes. She shoveled steak in her mouth so she couldn't say anything stupid. _I-is he complimenting me?_ One tiny piece of meat, just big enough to get stuck, went down her wind pipe when she started panicking over the compliment. She coughed and coughed but was too panicked to do anything else.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You choking?!" Kanji quickly jumped up. He grabbed each of her wrist and made her put her hands on her head. The piece of meat went down and she took a deep breath.

"Thank you." She coughed. "If you weren't here I wouldn't be breathing right now."

Kanji smiled, "Well, if I wasn't here you wouldn't have had a reason to be eating steak skewers down here. But it's no biggie, I just remembered how when I choked when I was younger I'd put my hands on my head and it'd usually work." _Her throat must be dry and sore now. _Kanji pulled a water bottle out of his bag and handed it to Naoto.

She nodded her thanks to Kanji and gulped down half the bottle. When she tried to hand it back to Kanji he waved it away and she finished it. "Thank you so much." _Even though it is technically your fault I started choking, with your damn compliment._ She added the last part silently before saying, "I think our 'date' is going marvelously."

He nodded agreement. "Yup, choking is always a fun time." Kanji rolled his eyes. "But I thought it would be worse." He shrugged, "Honest is the best policy so to tell you the truth, I was scared shitless."_ It's going well enough, if she decides she don't like me then that's just that._ "The only reason I asked was because Hanamura pissed me off into doing it. I would've never had the balls otherwise so I'll have to thank him."

Naoto smiled slightly. _I never thought annoying teasing from Yosuke would've pushed us together._ "Ah, but what if I decide I hate you? Wouldn't you want to bash his head in or something if that happened?" Naoto looked up at the muscular boy. "That's not what is going to happen, quite the opposite actually, but can we pretend it does just so you can beat him up?"

Kanji laughed. "Wow Naoto, you have the best evil ideas." He replayed her words in his head. _"quite the opposite actually" Wait..._ "Wait... you said something about the opposite of deciding you hate me in there. What does that mean?"

Naoto smiled slyly, "Oh, you've caught me. That means." She took a small step closer to the now sweating boy and look directly into his eyes. "I think I like you Kanji Tatsumi." _It worked, I thought of it like my detective work, dropping a subtle hint that unravels the case. And it made me feel normal when I said it, like confessing to a crime. I guess I'm the criminal in this case and he's the detective though._

"Woah." Kanji blushed and smiled. "I-I-I like you too." _Don't stop there Tatsumi, be a man, keep on going._ "Do you wanna be my girl?" He prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. The worst being he took her the wrong way, that question was completely out of line, being slapped, and her hating him. The best being her saying yes.

Naoto's smile widened slightly, "Yes. Though I do not guarantee I'll keep the position forever." Close enough to the best. "Though I must sadly say, I must go, I have business to attend to."

Kanji didn't care she had to go, to him, they had the rest of their lives now. "Let me walk you wherever you have to go." He pouted, "Please."

Her smile widened yet again, "Wouldn't deny you the pleasure. I must return home to do some homework and such. You can join me for homework if you wish." _Just an excuse to spend even more time with him._

"Ah, yeah, I'd like that. Need better grades and crap." Kanji shrugged. "Please lead the way."

Naoto began walking up the path. "Quite the gentleman now huh?" Kanji raised an eyebrow. " 'Please lead the way.' Words like those never have passed through your lips and to my ears before." Kanji just shrugged. x

When they made it to outside of the apartment complex the sun was already setting. Kanji growled, "I didn't know it was that far. Sorry, I can't stay for homework, gotta head home or Ma will worry." Kanji really did want to stay but he could put money on the fact that if he came home at night, from a girl's house, his mother would flip a lid.

"Ah, yes. Quite understandable. Then I'll see you tomorrow." Naoto nodded and stuck out her hand.

Kanji stared at her hand. "Uh.." He blinked a few times. _I don' think shaking hands is something we normally do._ _I'm not doing that._ Kanji took her hand like he was going to shake it with a soft grip. He turned the back of her hand upwards. He got on one knee and kissed her hand. " 'Til next time." He quickly stood up and walked away, leaving the blushing Naoto in front of the apartment complex.


	2. The First One

Kanji Tatsumi stood outside of Naoto's apartment complex with his hands shoved in his pockets and his back against the wall. It was only seven in the morning but the sun was already beating down bright. _Just a week of exams away from summer break, hell yeah._ Kanji smiled, relaxing against the wall with that thought. He took a deep breath and whipped out his phone. He quickly typed, "W8ing outside. Com out when u r ready 2 go," and sent it to Naoto. Naoto never said she wanted to be walked to school but Kanji wanted to walk with her anyway. He even woke up early just to make sure he got here before she left.

Within minutes Naoto was outside. She was breathing slightly heavy, her tie was crooked, her hair was sticking out at weird angles, and her cap wasn't even on her head. She smiled at Kanji, "Good morning." _I wasn't expecting you to be here._

He just looked at her for a minute. _I think she rushed a little... a lot._ The boy leaned against the wall again and closed his eyes. "You ain't ready. Go inside and look in the mirror. I don't mind waitin'."

Naoto nodded solemnly and ran back inside. _Ah maybe I did rush too much. I can't just walk around looking like rubbish because I didn't want to keep someone waiting. _She pulled out her keys while she ran to unlock her door. She did it in a swift motion and didn't have to stop running until she looked in the mirror. "He was quite correct, I'm nowhere near ready." Quickly, she fixed tie and brushed her hair. When she went to grab her hat she hesitated. _Do I really need to wear this? I'm sure Kanji will find it more appealing if I didn't._ Naoto kept walking towards the door without it.

They walked down the street together in an awkward silence. Kanji couldn't even look at Naoto without blushing. _Damn, she's so cute. Without that hat she looks more like a girl...but it ain't normal._ " 'Ey, uh, why ain't you got that cute hat you always wear? I ain't used to seeing you without it." _That's right Tatsumi, you can talk to the girl without soundin' completely stupid._

She smiled, "You thought it was cute?" Red tinted her cheeks. _Maybe I should have worn it. _"W-well, it was a bit dirty so I thought I could go a day without it." _A complete lie but it's harmless._

Kanji smiled back at Naoto, "It was real cute. I hope you clean it sometime soon." Without a second thought, Kanji grabbed her hand. Naoto didn't pull away. They looked at each other and blushed as they walked together. The quiet of the rest of the walk wasn't awkward, they had both silently agreed they liked it that way.

When they got to the school gates they let go of each other's hands. No one was really around yet because the walk didn't take as long as Kanji thought it would. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Eh, you don't usually leave that early do you?"

Naoto quickly shook her head, "Nowhere near that early. I had just woke up. But it's fine, we can just 'hang out' until school starts." She started to blush. "Ah, but what if people find out about our relationship. Rumors aren't good for reputations. Maybe we should keep it a secret." Naoto's mind thought up all the bad results to being in a relationship with Kanji.

_Why would it need to be a secret? Is she embarrassed by me already? _Kanji looked at the ground, frowning at his feet. "I guess if that's what you want. But what if someone already saw us together and tells people?" _I really hope someone did, I don't want to keep a secret._ He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away from Naoto.

"That would be troublesome. But considering the lack of people that is a slim chance." She looked straight at Kanji, as emotionally unaware as usual. The discontent showed on his face would've been obvious to anyone else.

Kanji bit his lip and looked at Naoto for a moment before speaking. "Ah, well, I better get goin' then." Without giving a moment for a goodbye, he walked into the school building.

Naoto nodded to herself and thought over the conversation that just occurred as she walked to a bench in front of the building. She reconsidered Kanji's words and expressions a few times before she noticed something was off. It took a little longer to realize what, "...Was he upset?...Let me go talk to him." She jumped up and basically ran into the school building. She checked in Kanji's class but he wasn't there. She checked their senpai's class but he wasn't there either. She started checking random classes because she didn't know where else to look.

The blue-haired girl jumped when something suddenly vibrated in her pocket. It took her a moment to realize that it was only her cell phone. She pulled it out and checked her text messages. She skipped through the ones she received until she got to the one from Kanji, "Com 2 roof asap." This time, she didn't think to look on the roof until she got the message. Naoto ran up the stairs to the rooftop.

She pushed the door open and immediately was startled out of her skin. "S-souji-senpai?!" _I-is this a ghost? Is he real?_ She hesitantly reached out to touch the silver-eyed teenager, her fingers didn't go through. Naoto looked even more surprised.

Souji sighed, "No I'm not a ghost. Yes I am real. Souji Seta, flesh and blood. Why do you all think I'm not real? It's not very hard to get on a train and make your uncle let you live with him, if you're me." A smile appeared on Souji's face, "Also, you only came after Kanji's phone text you, how come?"

Naoto was ready to back out of the doorway and run, "It just took a moment for me to notice." _I definitely did not set my phone to only vibrate for Kanji._ "Besides you shouldn't be asking any questions. Why are you here?" She glared at Souji with a stare that made him back up.

Souji frowned and looked at his feet, "You don't want me here? I thought you guys would've missed me, I came back just for you guys." He pouted and everyone else was looking at him like he just saved a puppy from being ran over by a big rig. He smiled, "Nah, I just had it out with my parents and left." With a quick shrug he sat down next to Yosuke, who had never looked more excited in his life.

Naoto laughed for a moment before catching eye of Kanji. He looked happy enough at first glance but for once Naoto actually noticed Kanji's deep frown. She quickly walked over to him and grabbed his hand, "Can you come here please?" She pointed to an empty area on the roof. Kanji got up and walked with Naoto to the clear area. _Just be straight forward. _"When I said to keep our relationship a secret did it upset you?"

Kanji was shocked to hear her be so straight forward. _She actually noticed? And she came up to ask? Well, she obviously knows what's up, so I shouldn't lie._ "Yeah, kinda. I mean, what's the point if I can't even talk to you because you're worried about what people gotta say. Well I say to hell with them. Right?"

She smiled at him. "I quite like that idea. Makes things easier." The small girl nodded to herself, "Yes, yes. Then an affectionate action would cause no harm." Naoto wrapped her arms around the large boy's neck. He looked at her, his cheeks burning red. She stood on her tiptoe and used his sturdy build for balance. Her lips brushed against his burning cheek and they both smiled. "You're quite sweet when you want to be. Nothing at all like I would've expected when I first met you."

His lips curled in a wide grin, "Heh, thanks." She slipped out of Kanji's arms and the morning bell rang. "See you at lunch." Naoto nodded and ran down the stairs, waving at Kanji.

Souji smiled at Kanji as everyone else cleared off the roof. "Hey Kanji. I saw my advice worked." He nudged Kanji's side. "Saw that smooch there." He wiggled his eyebrows at Kanji.

Kanji laughed, "Yeah, 'Just give her some time, it's a new relationship. She'll come around soon enough.' Yeah, took her like twenty minutes. Besides, even your nose wouldn't be in this if ya hadn't insisted on using my phone."

"Well here's some advice then. And you should take it to heart, it's coming from your local man whore," Souji smiled, partly with pride, mostly with resentment. "If you don't want people in your love life, clear your text messages." He grimaced as he remembered his many relationships in the last year, "And don't date both of the best friends..I'll tell you the story later." Souji raced down the stairs to get to class on time.

When the lunch bell rang Kanji was already heading out of his class to Naoto's class. He walked straight up to Naoto's desk and smiled at her. Unlike last year, the classroom didn't get deathly silent and start to empty when Kanji walked in. Even the girl sitting right next to Naoto looked comfortable with Kanji that close.

Naoto looked up at Kanji and smiled, "Hello Kanji." She stood up and immediately took Kanji's hand. "Let's go to the roof." They sat together on the roof and ate the lunch Kanji had. He purposely made a lot so Naoto could have some. Surprisingly, no one bothered them while they were up there. No one even glanced twice at them.

After school Naoto was the one who was ahead, she was at Kanji's desk under a minute after the bell rang. He stood up and frowned, "Hey, sorry, I gotta go look after the shop today. You can come with me though, ain't no one gonna mind if you do. If ya want."

"As long as it causes you no issues I would like to. I had no previous plans. Shall we be going?" Naoto started for the door and Kanji followed.

While he was getting his shoes from his locker, Kanji pulled out his phone to see if he got any messages throughout the day. He surprisingly found he had a lot of text. "Finally got your sublime love," from Yosuke. "Smooch smooch," from Chie. "Have fun but be safe," from Yukiko. "Ohhh, so cute together, " from Rise. "Nooo I wanted Nao-chan," from Teddie. "Take my advice," from Souji and many more from each of them.

Kanji looked at his phone blankly for a moment before shoving it back in his pocket. He went around to Naoto's side of the lockers to find her looking at her phone and blushing. She looked at him and smiled sheepishly, "Definitely not a secret." She giggled, which made Kanji blush, and walked towards him, "Let's go."

They walked hand in hand out of the school. They barely got to the school gate before Rise basically tackled them. She pulled both of them closer with her in the middle and took a picture with her phone. "Yay, I got the first picture of the cutest couple." She looked at it and pouted, "Heyy, you're both making stupid faces."

Kanji snatched her phone and deleted the picture. "That ain't a stupid face. That's a 'holy crap, someone just jumped on me' face." He put the phone back in Rise's hand.

Naoto smiled. _Kanji is probably the only the only man able to make belligerence and cursing cute._ "Here, we'll take a normal picture for you, Rise."

Rise giggled and readied her camera. Kanji looked shocked at Naoto, "We will?! Wait, I don't wan- Ya know what? Screw it." Kanji swept up Naoto bridal style and gave his best grin to the camera. Naoto blushed and smiled at Kanji. With a small fangirl-like scream, Rise took the picture. Kanji gently put Naoto down, "Heh, sorry for suddenly picking you up."

"That's quite all right. It served it's purpose well. Rise looks amused." Naoto nodded her head towards Rise who was happily showing Souji the picture.

"They are cute, Rise. Not as cute as you though." Souji smiled at Rise and softly tapped her nose.

Both Naoto and Kanji cringed. They looked at each other with an expression that said, "Poor Rise." For some reason, no girl could see that Souji dated anything he saw as attractive and was done with them once he got them to his bedroom.

Souji and Rise walked off together. Kanji and Naoto stood there grimacing for a moment before they remembered they were going somewhere. "Ah, crap, the shop. C'mon." Kanji grabbed Naoto's hand and made her jog along side him back to the textile shop.

He unlocked the door and went inside. "Ah, well, ain't no one gonna come in unnoticed so let's go sit in the living room." Kanji went behind the curtain that separated the store from the house with Naoto following close behind. "So, uh, watcha wanna do? We can watch TV. Oh, crap, test start Monday, we can study if ya want. I got my books somewhere."

Naoto frowned, "Somewhere?.. Studying sounds quite necessary, go get those books." Kanji nodded and ran up the stair to what Naoto assumed was his bedroom. She took a seat at the table in the center of the room. She looked at all the decorations while she waited, it wasn't overly decorated and the decorations didn't seem very fitting to Mrs. Tatsumi. Something that especially caught Naoto's eye was the dolls of Kanji's and her own Persona on top of the television.

Kanji ran back downstairs with a pile of books. "Told ya they were somewhere." He dropped the books on the table and smiled with pride, "I actually remembered where too."

She wasn't even paying attention to what he said. "Did you make those?" She pointed at the dolls on the television. _No one else could have, no one besides him who knows about our Persona and has such skill._ "I applaud your craftsmanship. You caught even the most minute details."

He blushed, scratching his head, "I-it ain't a big deal. I just made those two because I had a crazy crush on you...then I made the rest because it only seemed right." His cheeks turned even more red as he sat down next to Naoto.

Naoto was still too busy admiring the dolls to hear a word Kanji said. It wasn't until an awkward atmosphere set in the room she remembered they were supposed to be studying. "Ah yes, studying. Let's start with.." she picked up the book on top and looked at it. "Mathematics." She opened the book and began a long lecture on formulas and algebraic equations.

Halfway through Naoto's lecture Kanji zoned out. _I don't even understand this. Man I'm gonna fail... Naoto and Souji never fail...Naoto and Souji...Souji is seriously promiscuous. Even if he is a cool dude and an awesome leader...I wonder if he ever tried to get with Naoto.._ He quickly became entangled in the thought that Souji tried to make a move on Naoto and even worse, that he succeeded.

After a few minutes Naoto stopped talking and noticed Kanji troubled face. "Any questions? "

Kanji nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, did Souji ever try and make a move on you?" He looked into the now nervous girl's eyes.

"Uhh.." Naoto smiled nervously, "I believe so, once. I didn't really notice until later on. And even if I had noticed I would have probably slapped him. I am a detective, I knew of his promiscuous ways."

"If he tried again would you fall for it?" Kanji's next question came a little too harsh. He was becoming upset over the fact that his friend had once gone after Naoto.

Naoto frowned, "Calm down Kanji. I wouldn't. I am currently in a relationship with you." She leaned towards him, getting on her knees and putting her hand on his leg. "Kanji, you're the very first and only guy I've ever felt like this about before. I really like you." The blue-haired girl put her lips to the large boy's. At first he didn't react at all but then he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. Their lips moved out of sync, they had a hard time keeping their eyes closed, and Naoto found out what Kanji's teeth tasted like.

After a minute they broke the kiss. Kanji had a goofy smile on his face which made Naoto giggle. "You're real good at knowing how to make me shut up. I'm done with talkin' anyway." Naoto had took a seat on Kanji's lap when he went to kiss her again.

A few hours had passed by the time the bell in the store rang and not a moment of studying had occurred. Now that the first kiss had happened, neither of them minded kissing more. Naoto got off of Kanji's lap so he could go and see to the customer and he groaned audibly. "I don't wanna." He walked out to the front of the store and his jaw dropped, "M-ma? When did you get home?" Mrs. Tatsumi was sitting behind the counter and had already took care of the customer.

His mother smiled politely at him, "A while ago. I saw you had company and decided to leave you alone." She stood up, "It's about time to close up shop for the night."

Kanji looked outside and saw the orange sky, "Holy crap, it's that late?! I gotta go Ma, I'll be back in a few minutes." He ran back to the living room and saw Naoto getting ready to leave. "Lemme walk you to the bus stop." He quickly slid on his shoes and went outside.

Naoto followed after him. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly in a rush?" She hadn't noticed his mother come home either. _Did I do something wrong?_

"Ah," Kanji scratched his head nervously. "Ma came home while we were kissing and saw us. And I ain't really interesting in having an awkward moment introducing you to my ma right now." He shrugged, "Sometime soon I'll have to anyway."

Naoto blushed, "That is quite true. It's fine, I must get home anyway." She looked up and saw they were already at the bus stop and the bus was waiting. "Goodnight Kanji." She waved goodbye and quickly got on the bus.

When Kanji got back home Mrs. Tatsumi had finished setting their dinner at the table and was sitting waiting for her son. Kanji took his usually seat and bowed his head, "Thanks Ma."

They ate in an awkward silence for a moment before Mrs. Tatsumi cleared her throat. "It's quite normal for two males to have an intimate relationship nowadays. I approve of any decision you make in life." Kanji literally spit out his food from shock. "That young detective boy is quite a good choice for a relationship. He's very nice."

"Whoa whoa WHOA!" Kanji slammed down his chopsticks and stood up. "I don't like dudes! Naoto is a chick dammit! She's not a he! And she's my girlfriend." He took a deep breath and sat back down, "I don't like dudes..."

Mrs. Tatsumi looked surprised at her son's outburst. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know. No one ever told me she was a girl.." She laughed. "Well that was the wrong talk then. Have fun and always remember to be safe, use protection." She smiled innocently.

"Ma!" Kanji spit out his food again. "Two days! We've been together two days!" He wiped up the chewed food up. "Damn Ma, you're just saying that stuff so you can laugh at me. I don't like being laughed at dammit."

"I'm sorry Kanji," She smiled. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I thought it was good advice to give my teenage son. Isn't that the sort of thing teenagers do?"

Kanji blushed, "I-i ain't like that! Ma, just stop. You're giving me permission to do those things."

"I'm not supposed to give you permission? You're 16 and a half."

"Okay, give me permission but don't keep actin' like that's all on my mind."

"I know you're a nice boy. You probably already know what you're doing anyway. "

"Ma! I don't wanna talk to my mother about this." Kanji got up and ran to his room.

Mrs. Tatsumi laughed, "Sorry Kanji, it was worth it." She giggled again and continued eating.

* * *

A/N: Hehe. Yeah. Evil mother teases her son. I find it funny, but I got a sick sense of humor.


	3. Busted! Two times

It was the very first day of summer vacation and the ex-investigation team was gathered at the Junes food court. Kanji was sitting next to Naoto with his usual angry face and staring straight ahead. Everyone was talking but Kanji hadn't heard a word.

"Uh, Kanji?" Chie tapped on his forehead. "You there? We were talking to you."

Kanji slapped her hand away like she was a mosquito. "Yeah, what?"

"You wanna go to the beach with us? We're going in two weeks and we were thinking about staying at an inn around there for a night." Yosuke didn't look exactly upbeat either though. Kanji had also realized that Yosuke completely laid off the gay jokes since Souji came back. Whether it was because Souji was back or because he technically had a girlfriend he wasn't sure.

Kanji nodded. "Yeah sounds cool." He went right back to staring at the space in front of him. Everyone kept talking like normal, Kanji usually didn't talk much when he didn't have anything he saw as worthwhile to say anyway. After a moment Kanji felt Naoto's small hand slip into his under the table. He looked at the girl next to him and smiled and she smiled back.

_I'm glad I can tell she actually likes me._ His scowl deepened. _I thought she might change her mind after what happened yesterday._

Rise's face suddenly popped in front of his own, startling him so bad he almost fell out of his seat. "Hey, what's wrong? You look even angrier than usual."

Yosuke started scowling too, "You still pissed about yesterday? You shouldn't be, you stood up for us all. You were a man."

Kanji nodded his head, "Yeah, thanks."

* * *

It was the end of the last day of school before summer break. The gang decided they should go to Junes and make some plans for the summer so they all met up at the shoe lockers to go together. They were doing their usually thing, talking and teasing each other playfully as they walked when a group of punks from school came near them talking rather loudly.

"Look at those dorks guys," The leader scoffed and thumbed towards the group of friends who had now stopped talking and were looking at the punks. "Aren't they weird, they always hang out like that. That blonde boy gives me the creeps."

The one who seemed to be the second in command laughed and so did the rest, "Yeah, hey did you hear that the fag and dyke are dating?"

The leader laughed even louder, "The reason they can date is because they both are gay. Tatsumi sees Shirogane as a dude and Shirogane sees Tatsumi like a chick. Oh, speaking of fags, you see the prince of Junes?"

"Yeah I have. He's always so damn close to that whore Seta. Can't Hanamura see that his best friend don't swing that way? I mean he has hooked up with nearly every girl at school. He's a male version of Kujikawa."

"Yo, but I heard he never got Satonaka or Amagi in bed. Those two were probably too busy in bed with each other." The punks all started laughing. They were so caught up laughing they didn't notice the large boy walk up and snatch their leader by the collar of his shirt.

Kanji had to lift the punk almost a full foot off the ground to be face to face with him. "What's so funny huh? Where do you get the idea you can say that crap? We ain't trying to live to your standards so shut your damn mouth." The boy opened his mouth like he was going to protest and Kanji shook him, "I said shut your damn mouth! Our actions ain't none of your business. Us hanging out seems weird because y'all ain't ever had friends. Teddie gives you the creeps because he is better than any you punks could ever be. Yeah, me and Naoto are dating, big deal. Just because we don't live up to your ideas of what's a man and what's a woman don't make us gay. I sew and paint but I'm still a better man than you. She dresses like a guy and is a detective but she's a better woman than you'll ever see each other for what we are dammit!" Everyone could tell Kanji had angry tears on his cheeks and foam in his mouth, like a mad dog. "Yosuke is around Souji is because their best buds and anything beyond that you keep your dirty nose out of it! And yeah, Souji does get around but he ain't actually a whore, you're just jealous he has better luck with girls than you! And Rise ain't no damn whore either, she barely even looks at scum like you. Chie and Yukiko have been best friends as long as I can remember. Jus' because they ain't getting in other people's beds don't mean they're getting in each other's. You hear me damn well! Mind your own damn business!"

Kanji dropped the boy. He fell right on his behind, trembling in fear of Kanji. No one said a word. No one moved. Everyone was waiting for Kanji's next move. They half expected him to punch the punk, half expected him to kick the punk. But he stared at him, "...get the hell out of here." The punk scrambled to his feet and ran away screaming like he just saw a monster and the rest of his gang followed.

The enraged boy looked back at his friends with foam coming out of the corner of his mouth and tears running down he cheeks. "I hate when people talk crap about you guys." He wiped off his face with his hands. "It really pisses me off ya know? Like really bad. Sorry you guys had to see that."

What happened next shocked Kanji more than anything. All the girls and Teddie rushed at him and hugged him tight while Yosuke and Souji patted him on the back. The ones hugging him looked up with tear in their eyes and the other two grinned. "Thank you Kanji. You're so sweet." They all said it together in unison and smiled at him. It didn't really make him feel any better though.

He nodded his head, "Well thanks." He waited for the hugging to stop. "I'm going home now, let's meet up tomorrow instead." He waved goodbye and ran off. Something was still on his mind. _The only reason I didn't smash his head in was because I was scared. I was scared I wouldn't be able to take them all on. And scared my friends would hate me if I got violent. _He decided there wasn't anything he could do about the latter but he could get stronger, to protect his friends.

* * *

Yukiko smiled at Kanji, "Yeah, Yosuke's right. You told them off really well. You defended all of us."

Everyone else smiled too. Souji nodded his head, "Yeah, we would've all been pretty upset if they spread rumors like that around." His smile faded quickly, "Now back to business. Kanji, motorcycle licence. Naoto, motorcycle licence."

Naoto frowned, "I don't know if that's a test I'll be able to pass. I'm more of a car person."

Kanji smiled though, "Don't worry, you can ride on the back of my motorcycle. Thanks for reminding me about my motorcycle licence Souji. I've wanted one since I was little. My dad always had this really cool bike from when he was young and I always wanted to ride it. When I was younger I would.." He blushed and laughed sheepishly. "Ah, crap. That's two embarrassing to share. But it still runs and best of all, it don't make no noise. Unlike those damn bikers that I beat last year."

"Okay good then," Souji clapped his hands. "Meeting dismissed." Immediately afterwards Souji got up and went to Rise. "Hey, you wan-"

Rise shoved her hand in his face and pushed him away. "You've blown me off all week. Go to hell." She flipped her hair and walked away.

Naoto laughed at the sight, "Wow, Souji actually didn't get his way with a girl. Well, let's go." She stood up and waited for Kanji to take her hand. "We should go take the test now and get it over with." Kanji agreed with a nod of the head and took her hand.

Just as expected, Naoto failed and Kanji passed. Naoto didn't really seem to care though. "Congratulations. It's quite fortunate one of us passed."

Kanji smiled. "Yeah, too bad you didn't pass though." _Nah, I'm actually glad you didn't, now we can actually go through with plan "Up close and Personal," and I'll be the winner this time...unlike that trip to Okina..I can't believe it cost that much per hour or that she just straight up gave a kid the number. _He smirked, remembering the guy's failed attempt at picking up chicks.

Naoto smiled back though, "No. It makes no difference. I had nothing to drive anyway." She looked towards her feet. "Oh, I was wondering if you want to hang out today."

He frowned. "Nah, I got some stuff to do. I'll come over to your place tomorrow though. If that's all right."

Naoto nodded, "Yeah. That's fine. See you tomorrow." She looked to see if anyone was around before she stood on her tiptoe and gave the tall boy a kiss. "Bye." She waved and walked to the bus stop.

Kanji quickly walked back to his house and went straight to his room. He had a weight set in his room and ever since he went home yesterday the weights were being put to use. This was his plan, to become physically stronger so he can always protect those he loved.

The next two weeks passed with Kanji on a strict schedule. Every other day he'd go to Naoto's house for exactly four hours then he would run all the way back home. On the days he didn't go to her house he'd call her and talk to her for an hour while he did sit ups. And the rest of the time he was working out in one way or another.

On the morning that they planned to go to the beach Kanji got up extra early just to get in a last-minute work out before going. Then he took a shower, so he wouldn't smell like sweat with Naoto right behind him, and got on his bike to go get her.

He went up to her room to find her completely ready to go. They put her stuff inside a backpack with Kanji's and smiled at each other. Naoto actually giggled happily, "This will be fun. I can tell."

Kanji couldn't help but grin when she giggled, "Yeah it will be." He put his finger under her chin and bent down to kiss her. They often found themselves kissing recently, and hugging, and smiling.

They went back down the Kanji's bike and put on their helmets. Kanji got on and Naoto got on behind him. She held onto him but not so tight he couldn't breath and not so loose she'd fall. He sped down the street to where they agreed to meet.

Everyone else was already there, gawking when they rolled up. Yosuke grinned at them, "Duuuuude, you guys look bad ass. Big buff dude with a cute girl riding behind him, I'm jealous." They all laughed. "Well, since you're going to be the first one there, probably, you'll have to deal with the innkeeper." He pulled some yen out of his pocket. "It's enough for two rooms so try to get two rooms right next door. I guess you deserve to be the first one there and have the cool ride since last time you pedaled the whole way. See ya there. "

Kanji and Naoto waved goodbye and they were off, speeding down the street towards the beach. Kanji didn't go too fast though. He took his time since his friends were already out of sight and some places on the trip were actually beautiful to see. It took them an hour to get to the inn, and their friends should be there soon enough. So they went inside and got two rooms right next to each other without any issues.

He grabbed his trunks from the backpack, since most of the stuff was Naoto's and he didn't need anything else at the moment, and went to the room they designated for males and Naoto went to the other. There wasn't anything for him to do except change into his swimming trunks so he started undressing.

"Kanji, I need some help wi-" Naoto come the door when Kanji had taken off his shirt and unbuttoned his pants already. She stood there and stared at him until both their faces were red. "Y-you're so muscular...It's attractive." She stepped closer and carefully traced Kanji's eight pack with her fingers. She found herself truly enjoying touching the young man's muscles. Naoto put her lips to his. The kiss quickly got more passionate and before they realized what was happening Kanji had Naoto's shirt on the floor, her back was on the bed, he was on top of her, and he was undoing the cloth Naoto used to restrict her chest.

If the door hadn't opened it would've gone further. But the door did open. The guys walked in, unaware of what was going on in the room. They were laughing and joking around until they noticed Naoto and Kanji on the bed. The pair had already froze in place, coming to their senses. Souji pushed Yosuke and Teddie towards the door, "We'll leave you guys alone for like an hour. That should be long enough."

At the same time the other girls came in the room with Yukiko leading them, "Hey, have you guys seen Naoto? Oh." The girls blushed when they noticed Kanji on top of Naoto, "Ah, we s-see. We'll be going then." They turned around and that fast the room was empty again.

Kanji smiled at Naoto and got from on top of her, "We were busted." He blushed slightly as he laughed. "I don't know what I was thinking, now ain't the time or place. Right?"

Naoto put her shirt back on and smiled contently, "I say we should've just waited until they left for the beach." The red in her cheeks was barely there, she wasn't embarrassed or ashamed to admit she was attracted to the man in front of her. In fact, she couldn't see how women weren't attracted to him.

His jaw dropped, "Wait, are you saying you want to, you know?" _I ain't sure I'm actually ready, but maybe if she is... _"They said they'd leave us alone if you want to now."

"Maybe.." She tapped her finger on her knee. "But we should spend time with our friends since it is a trip for all of us. Maybe after we get back home."

Kanji blushed, "Yeah maybe." He leaned in and gave her one last kiss. "You should go to your room now"

She nodded and left. When she walked to her room she noticed the guys standing in the hall. "Finally, the girls wouldn't let us in." Yosuke complained loudly before walking in his room.

Kanji had already finished changing when the other guys came in. He had traded his black speedo he wore last year for a pair of black swim trunks with a skull embroidered on it. Teddie clapped when he realized it. "Kanji, don't lose those this time. And if you do, don't use me to hide behind."

Yosuke laughed, "Don't worry, this time he won't have to hide. Everyone besides Naoto was there. And I'm pretty sure Kanji already let Naoto see it all." The other's started to undress to change their clothes.

Kanji blushed, "No I didn't. We were just kissing."

Souji laughed, "Shirts usually don't come off and pants don't get undone when you're 'just kissing.'"

"S-shut up. I was changing when she came in." He sighed. "I will admit to taking off her shirt though...and trying to see her breast..and maybe wanting to go all the way right then."

The three guys beside Kanji laughed. "Well if you're going to admit to all that," Yosuke teased. "Have fun when you get home tomorrow."

Souji poked Kanji in his ribs, "And remember..."

Kanji blushed and slapped his hand away, "Use protection, I got it."

"I was actually going to say be gentle, she's kinda small and I don't think you want Naoto in two pieces. I mean, remember, we saw it all last time we came here."

"Ah, what the hell are you saying to me?" Kanji ran out of the room, leaving the other's to laugh at his embarrassment.

After a few minutes the rest of them came down to the beach. Kanji was already standing thigh deep and water when he turned around and looked at them coming. _Holy crap._ Blood slowly starting dripping down his nose when he saw Naoto. She was in a two piece and for the first time showed how perfect her figure was.

When she saw Kanji in the water she smiled and ran towards him, "Kanji, there you are. I was worried you disappeared." Once, only once, did her breast bounce slightly and blood streamed from Kanji's nostril. She stopped in her tracks, "A-are you okay? Do we need a doctor? Or some tissue?"

"Huh?" He had a hard time looking up and paying attention to what she said. "Oh! Oh, crap!" He quickly crouched down in the water and wiped off the blood that had managed to get all the way down to his stomach. "I'm fine."

Naoto got in the water and crouched next to Kanji. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to pass out or anything while you were swimming. It would take all seven of us to pull you up and by then you would have drowned."

Kanji laughed, "Ah that's harsh. I'm not that heavy and most of my weight is muscle anyway." He stood up. "But I'll stay out the water so you don't gotta worry."

She grinned at the boy as they walked back to the sand, "I am well aware that you have a lot of muscle mass. It shows."

Suddenly they were surrounded by their friends again. "Yeah, Naoto is right," Rise agreed. "You're ripped Kanji. I wanna touch!" Rise grabbed onto Kanji's arm and felt his biceps. "You weren't this muscular last year."

"Yeah, that's true. Heck you weren't this muscular a month ago." Chie had grabbed the same arm and felt his triceps. "Teach me your secrets."

"Wasn't Kanji always super buff?" Yukiko tilted her head as she touched his triceps as well. "But now you're superhero buff."

Kanji frowned, "Uh yeah, whatever. Hey, isn't this just as bad as when I had a nosebleed from seeing Chie and Yukiko in their swimsuits? Get the hell off my arm." He shook his arm like he was shaking dust out of a rug. All the girls let go and pouted at him.

He was about to walk away with Naoto but the girl was blushing and had wide eyes. "Nosebleed from seeing...in their swimsuit? W-was that what just happened?"

Kanji put his hands up like he was being arrested, he was still quite good at it even though he hadn't been arrested in over a year. "Yeah. But instead of Yukiko and Chie, you. Pleasedon'tkillme." He closed his eyes, bracing himself for a slap or a punch or anything but it didn't come so he opened his eyes.

Naoto was just standing there with her arms crossed and red cheeks, "Idiot pervert." She mumbled the words barely loud enough for Kanji to hear. The other's had walked away, not interested in seeing Kanji's punishment. The small blue-haired girl walked around Kanji but he followed.

"H-hey, I didn't mean to. You can slap me if you want to." Kanji was begging for forgiveness but she just kept walking. She walked straight towards Souji then suddenly went behind him and stood there. When Kanji tried to get around Souji, Naoto moved and so did Souji to keep them separate. When Kanji tried again Souji slapped him as hard as he could. Kanji, startled, grabbed his cheek. "Aw, what the hell man?"

Souji shrugged, "It was from Naoto. I don't know why."

Naoto stepped from behind him, then engaged in a giggle fit. "I couldn't slap you as hard as you deserved myself so I asked Souji to." Kanji pouted at his girlfriend. "Ah, it couldn't have hurt too bad." She kissed his cheek but he kept pouting.

"Why don't you let him slap you then?" Kanji smirked. "You would start crying. And then I'd have to beat up Souji for making you cry. Wouldn't be fun."

Naoto frowned, "I can take it! I've never cried over pain before. Souji slap me." She faced towards Souji with her face wide open.

"What are you doing? " Souji scowled at Naoto. "Turn around and bend over, I only slap girl's behinds." He smirked and started laughing when Naoto's face turned red.

Kanji frowned at Souji, "Dude that's my girl. You better be joking." He possessively pulled Naoto into his arms.

Souji laughed, "I am joking about slapping Naoto but not about only slapping girl's behinds." He smirked and whispered in Kanji's ear, "Can't joke about the booty."

He smiled slightly, knowing his friend wasn't joking. "Yeah, I know that's how you roll." Souji walked away leaving Kanji and Naoto to embrace each other. They spent the next few hours running around the beach, swimming, playing a few games, and luckily there was no wardrobe malfunction this year.

Teddie didn't want to go back after the sun went down so Kanji and Naoto stayed to watch him for a bit longer. They were actually lying about the watching him, they just wanted to sit on the beach alone together so they could make out without being bothered. They didn't even notice that Teddie went back to the inn without them. What did eventually snap them out of it was a cool coastal breeze that made them both shiver.

Kanji got up and helped Naoto up. He acted like a gentleman and had Naoto walk in front of him, even though he truly had a selfish reason to be behind her. He got right behind her and playfully tugged on the stings that held up her top. "Can I take this off? No one can see us."

Naoto turned around to reciprocate the teasing. She pulled the front of his trunks and let them snap back. "Depends. Can I take these off?" She smirked, expecting Kanji to be flustered by thought.

But Kanji just smiled, "Seriously? I'll take mine off if you take you take yours off" He grabbed the hem of the short, "Hell, I'll take them off if you just ask nicely. I'd do anything for you. "

She blushed, "N-not here. Let's head back." The flustered girl turned back around and ran to the inn.

Kanji laughed and followed after her, "I think I won that round."

When they got back they noticed all their friends, save Yosuke and Souji, were in the hall. Teddie was holding onto the doorway to the girl's room and obviously throwing a fit. "I wanna stay with you guys!" One of his fingers slipped off the door when Chie gave an exceptionally hard pull and he fought for his grip.

The two who had just got back sighed and looked at each. Kanji walked forward and pulled the smaller boy from the door frame, "C'mon troublemaker." The girls stood behind Kanji when he opened the door to the guys room. What they saw made all their faces pale.

Let's just say that if Kanji and Naoto's encounter in there early was intimate this encounter was ten times more so. And what really made it shocking was it was Yosuke and Souji, in the middle of the room, naked, Souji was on top, and Yosuke was on the bottom, looking pleased slightly in pain at the same time.

Kanji quickly slammed the door shut. "We didn't see crap. Can we come in your guys room?" He looked pleadingly at the girls.

Rise didn't care if Kanji and Teddie had to sleep in the hallway. "No, you can't. Teddie would harass all of us and you and Naoto would probably end up wanting each other naked like you did earlier. So no."

The rest of the girls looked kind of angry that Rise was so cold. "Rise, don't take out your anger on them," Chie snapped. "It isn't their fault your boyfriend is gay. We said don't date him in the first place."

Rise stomped her foot, "Whatever! Do whatever you want!" She wiped her eyes and walked back into their room.

During the commotion Naoto had slipped away to talk with the innkeeper. She came back just as everyone had become quiet. "I was able to afford a room with one bed so Kanji and I will share a room and Teddie can have my bed in your guy's room." She nodded her head and took Kanji's hand, "Let's go."

* * *

A/N: You don't like the fact that I made Souji and Yosuke more than just partners in saving Inaba? That's fine, they won't really be mentioned too much here anyway. So next time, we'll see what happens when Kanji and Naoto have a room to themselves. And considering I wrote this chapter immediately after the last and I'm starting the next chapter right after I post this, we might find out soon.


	4. Jumping to Conclusions

Naoto was sitting on the inn bed while Kanji was looking through the backpack at the edge of the bed. They ended up in here alone together by a coincidental event. Now Kanji was getting irritated he couldn't find his toothbrush in the bag. He growled and dumped the bag's contents on the bed.

The girl turned around, looking through the things now spread on the bed. She held up a toothbrush that had the end shaped like a teddy bear. "It's cute."

Kanji blushed and snatched it out of her hand, "Ah, yeah, well thanks." He grabbed his pajamas and went towards the bathroom. "Change your clothes. Tell me when you're done so I can come back out." He shut the bathroom door behind him and began to brush his teeth.

Naoto's phone buzzed and she picked it up. "Hello. Grandpa?" _This is sudden. _"Uh huh. Uh huh. I understand. Oh no, it's fine. The end of the month? Okay." She pouted and turned off her phone. _Crappy timing. _

Kanji came out ten minutes later and found Naoto on the bed halfway asleep. Kanji walked to the bed and looked at her. She was in a light blue sleeping gown and her hair was messy. Kanji thought she was adorable. He blushed and smiled.

Naoto peeked at her boyfriend from the corner of her eye. She saw him staring and blushing so she turned towards him. After a quick glance at Kanji, she blushed too. Kanji's pajamas consisted of gray sweat pants and that's all. "T-that's all you wear to bed?"

Kanji looked down as if to check if he was wearing any clothes at all. "Uh. Yeah." He frowned slightly. _I usually only wear my underwear. But she don't need to know that._ "I'll put on a shirt if ya want."

"No, it's fine. I understand it is a bit hot." She started to fall back to sleep but she opened her eyes once she realized Kanji wasn't coming to bed. "Are you coming to sleep? You should rest so we can have fun tomorrow." Naoto looked at the young man slowly nodding his head and laying down.

His heart pounded against his chest, "A-are ya sure it's alright if I sleep here? I can sleep on the floor.." _You're a man! You can sleep in the same bed as her 'nd not be nervous AND not lose control. _Kanji looked at her and bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Naoto raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?" She scooted closer and gently touched his forehead. "You feel hot and tense."

He jumped back from Naoto so fast he fell off the bed. _N-no I can't! I'm nervous dammit!_ Kanji sat up and tried to pretend like he had done it on purpose. "I'm fine dammit!" He blushed and scowled at Naoto.

She looked perplexed, "Uh, sorry?" _Did I upset him? I wonder what happened. _

"Nah. I'm sorry. " He got up and stood in front of the bed. "I shouldn't be flipping out and cursing at you. I'm jus' nervous and all. But I'll calm down." _Seriously, don't need to be pissy at her 'cause I'm nervous. _He laid back in bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Naoto smiled. "Oh, alright then. Goodnight then." She turned off the light then cuddled close to Kanji.

Kanji was still having a miniature panic attack on the inside. _Geez, she's so close._ Without a considering what he was doing he pulled her closer. _Ah, crap. They're so squishy and squeezed against me. _He blushed and pushed the thought aside. _Ain't the time to be thinking about her breast!_

Naoto looked up at her boyfriend who was currently sweating, blushing, and holding her extremely tight. "Kanji...you're thinking too much and squeezing just a little to tight. Just relax."

"Just relax? O-okay." He loosened his grip and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm relaxed. I'm sorry for freaking out. I jus' don't want to mess up what we got going. You really mean a lot to me. I-I lo-"

A loud thump right outside their door interrupted Kanji. It was followed by a quiet whimper and Chie yelling, "And stay out!"

Their door opened and Teddie peeked in. "Hey, can a stay in here?"

Kanji sighed and threw a pillow at Teddie. "Causing trouble for the girls huh? You can stay as long as you're quiet and you gotta sleep on the floor." Teddie nodded half-heartedly and laid down on the floor. Kanji ran his fingers through Naoto's hair. He kissed her briefly then whispered, "I would finish what I was saying but I don't want anyone else to hear except you."

Naoto smiled and nodded her head. "Goodnight then. Have pleasant dreams." She laid her head next to his chest and he rested his head above hers. They drifted to sleep peacefully.

When Naoto woke up, it was a bit after sun rise. She still hadn't broken her habit of waking up early and she didn't plan to. Kanji on the other hand was still asleep. He had been waking up earlier than he would for school every other day of the break but today he didn't have his alarm clock.

She looked at her sleeping boyfriend's face and smiled. _He looks so relaxed and happy. He's smiling. _Naoto giggled quietly. _Should I wake him up? Should I not wake him up? Should I? Should I not? I should. Sorry. _She gently shook Kanji and his eyes opened. "Good morning, Kanji."

"Huh," he gathered his thoughts then smiled. "Yeah, good morning Naoto."

Kanji was about to kiss her forehead but Teddie dived onto the bed before he could. "Gooood morning. Naoto, I'll take my good morning smooch now." Teddie closed his eyes and puckered his lips towards Naoto.

"Oh no you don't!" Kanji grabbed the back of Teddie's shirt and pulled him back. "Those are MY good morning kisses." He grinned and kissed Naoto. Naoto giggled and Teddie started flailing and screaming something about it not being fair.

Naoto smiled, "You guys are as full of energy as ever." She stood up and stretched. "Oh! Geez, I should arrest that bed for murdering my back.."

Kanji stood up too and immediately wished he didn't, "Crap! You're right. This is why the inn was so damn cheap." He leaned back some and popped his back.

Teddie raised an eyebrow, "Huh? My back's fine. See?" He stood up and tried to do a back bend but lost his balance.

The two just grimaced at him for a moment before Naoto grabbed her clothes and walked into the bathroom. "Let's grab some food then go to the beach, Kanji." She seemed to glare at Teddie a moment as if to tell him he wasn't invited but the boys weren't sure if they were just seeing things or not.

Twenty minutes later Kanji and Naoto were walking down the street together trying to find the closest place for breakfast. It turned out she didn't want Teddie to come, when he tried to follow she looked at him like he was an annoying mosquito following her. He looked upset but they knew he'd get over it.

Naoto was looking upset too and it was worrying Kanji. When he tried to grab her hand she'd suddenly swing her arm more so he couldn't reach it. Kanji eventually gave up and shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away from her. It hurt his feelings a lot even though he'd never admit it.

When they finally got to a place that looked like it sold acceptable food they got a table and ordered some food. It was on the expensive side but it looked good. Naoto wore a straight face she hadn't worn for months. It looked so serious and expressionless it scared Kanji.

"Last night, " Her voice was monotonous like it was when they first met. "I received a phone call. I was summoned to a city on the other side of J-japan." Her voice cracked and her bottom lip quivered. "I-I d-don't t-t-think we c-could m-manage a l-long distance relationship this e-early in ours." It was more than obvious she was trying not cry. _I don't want to leave..but I can't give up my job. Especially a request directly from Grandpa._

Kanji's eyes widened and he held his breath a moment. "...Are you saying we should break up?" Naoto opened her mouth to say something but Kanji interrupted her. " 'Cause that's fine. I wouldn't want hold up your career. A punk like me ain't that important." He pulled out his wallet and put some cash on the table. "Ah, yeah, I just remembered. I, uh, gotta..go..do something..somewhere else." He got out of his seat and tried to walk towards the door but he ended up running.

Naoto got out of her seat and tried to run after him but by the time she was outside he was almost out of sight. "Kanji!" She yelled out to him but he kept running. "Kanji..." She slowed down until she was standing still and looked in the direction he ran. She bawled her fist as tears spilled down her cheeks. _I didn't mean it like that.._

Eventually, Kanji found himself lost in a town he was unfamiliar with. Nothing looked like anything that was close to the beach and it was even harder for him to tell with tears in his eyes. He angrily wiped his eyes. _C'mon Tatsumi, you're a man. You can take a girl breaking up with you. Even if she was amazing. Even if she beat any other girl in every way. Even..even if I did like her a lot. _He looked around again but tears quickly swelled in his eyes again.

He walked up to a local after wiping the tears away, "Uh, hey which way is the-"

The man looked startled, "I-I don't have any money!" He turned as quickly as he could and ran from Kanji.

Kanji sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket. _See? I said I was just a punk. A big scary punk that ain't worth shit. _He ended up just standing there, crying.

What snapped Kanji back to reality was something small smashing into him. He turned to look and it was just a little girl, at the oldest, ten years old. The little girl looked scared at first but when she looked at Kanji she calmed down. She squeezed the stuffed bunny she was holding, "Hey mister, are you alright?"

He forced a smile for the girl, "Yeah. I'm fine."

The little girl puffed up her cheeks. "You're lying! What's wrong? Was someone mean to you?"

Kanji crouched down, "You're smart. No one was mean to me, really. My girlfriend just broke up with me, really upset me." _No shame in admitting it if the girl doesn't know your name and won't even remember you._

The girl gasped, "What?! That is mean. She hurt your feelings!" The girl pouted and seemed confused by the situation.

Kanji just shrugged. "That's the way it goes sometimes. Not saying I wouldn't have expected sooner or later. I mean I ran out of the building cryin'.." _Why the hell am I saying all this to a little girl?! _He smiled slightly, "So why are you out here alone?"

She smiled and held out the bunny to show him, "I'm going to give this to the boy I like. He says he likes bunnies. So I bought him this. Do you think he'll like it?"

"Sure he will." Kanji laughed wryly. "If he doesn't jus' tell him give it back. Shouldn't let a bunny that nice go to waste."

She giggled. "Yeah! I like it so he better too!" She smiled at Kanji, radiating her positive energy.

_Oh, yeah. She seems happy with bunnies. I'll give her something since I don't need it anymore. _He reached into his pocket and pulled out two cute bunny phone straps and held it out to her. "Here. I make stuff like this so you can have these two. Give one to someone special and keep the other." He dropped them in the girl hand.

"You make these?! That's so cool!" She studied them for a moment. "Oh yeah. I should pay you. How much, mister?"

Kanji scratched the back of his head, "Just tell me how to get to the beach from here."

She pointed behind her, "Straight that way." She giggled and hugged Kanji's leg. "Thanks mister. Good luck getting your girlfriend back."

He smiled at her awkwardly, "Good luck with the guy you're gonna go see." The girl waved goodbye and ran down the street. "Getting my girlfriend back huh?" He went down the street the girl directed.

Kanji walked back with a scowl on his face. He was thinking about what he would do. _Hell, I'll do whatever I feel is right. I remember I told Senpai I'd be myself and make people understand me. No one will understand me if I put on a show. Ain't no need to worry so much. _He quickened his pace.

Meanwhile, Naoto went back to the inn. When she was walking in her friends were walking out.

"Hey Naoto, you're going the wrong way." Chie tapped her shoulder and pointed out the door. "The party's heading this way."

Naoto looked up, bewildered. She hadn't even noticed her friends there. Silently, she followed them out to the beach. She took a seat under an umbrella away from everyone else.

After a few minutes Rise came over and sat next to her. "Hey, what's wrong? You missed Souji and Yosuke's awkward apology slash coming out the closet speech." Rise looked at Naoto's eyes and the puffiness around them. "Oh, something really is wrong." She seemed to be putting the pieces, Naoto is upset and Kanji isn't here, together. "Did you and Kanji get in a fight?"

Naoto shook her head. She briefly explained what happened, leaving out that she was crying and that she was pretty sure Kanji was too. "I-I don't even want to go. And I don't know where Kanji is and I'm worried about him. I didn't mean I wanted to break up. I was afraid that was what is was going to come to though. I mean, I can't tell my Grandpa no without any reasoning and Kanji can't come with me because he has his mother and has to stay in school at Yasogami." She wiped her dampening eyes and drew her knees to her chest. Taking a deep breath after her long-winded explanation.

Rise frowned at her friend. "First, that's not how you approach a guy about sensitive topics about your relationship. The defenses automatically go up if you do. Especially if he's Kanji. Second, Kanji is a big boy, he'll be fine and find his way back. Next, if you don't want to go, don't. Just tell your grandpa you aren't ready to leave Inaba, and you might never be. Next, as soon as Kanji gets back tell him you didn't mean you wanted to break up, that you were worried sick about him, and that he should never run away like that again. And it wouldn't hurt to be teary eyed. But still be yourself. Finally, don't even give Kanji the option to leave Inaba with you. He will seriously drop everything for you." Rise patted Naoto's back, "Don't worry it will be alright."

Naoto grabbed Rise in a bear hug, "Thank you Rise. I'll remember all that. I do trust your advice on such a topic would be reliable."

Rise returned the hug. "You're welcome. Hehe, this is the most affectionate you've been towards me in a while at least." She smiled as Naoto let go.

Rise left Naoto alone but every few minutes she would look over to check on her. Naoto was fairly stable the entire time. She would break down again whenever she thought of the worst scenarios but someone, usually Rise, would come cheer her up.

About an hour passed before Kanji came back. Naoto had been keeping a steady watch over the area between the inn and the beach. When she saw a beefcake with bleached hair greased back she hopped to her feet. Naoto ran as fast as she could at Kanji and he didn't even see her. She nearly tackled him head on but he was strong enough to catch her without falling. He held her up and looked at her teary face.

"K-kanji. I was so worried about you. Please, never run away from me like that again. I really didn't mean it like we should break up." She wiped her eyes and pouted like a little girl.

Kanji frowned and blushed. _Too cute._ "I'm sorry. I just couldn't take the idea of you leaving. I had to go cry like a wuss." He laughed slightly. "Uh, let's go talk about this." He put her down and they went to a bench on the beach.

"There's nothing left to talk about really. Not anymore." Kanji looked sad, like she just hopped on the train to leave. "I've decided to not go. Everything here is more important to me. Especially you."

Kanji's eyes widened. "Huh?! You serious? I would argue but I really don't want you to leave." He smiled a big, goofy grin as his cheeks lit up. "Hey, did you say I was important to you?"

Naoto averted her eyes. "Well, I said you and everything else in Inaba is more important than a case I have zero connection too or any knowledge of. Since it's a comparison, your importance ranges from a little important to the most important thing in the world to me." A small smile played across her lips and she blushed bashfully.

The young man laughed. "I'm just gonna take that as you sayin' I'm very important. You kinda turned it into a math problem and lost me." He seemed weirdly proud after saying that.

"Take it as you please. But remember, you came to that conclusion. If your evidence is sufficient and you used a proper procedure, your deduction may be correct." Naoto smiled, she enjoyed using her detective talk on someone who wouldn't completely understand.

"So you're saying I'm right, right?" He smiled, even though he was slightly confused. Kanji laughed and leaned to kiss Naoto. She leaned back as far as she could to avoid him kissing her blushing face. Naoto ended up on her back on the bench with Kanji desperately leaning over her for a kiss without getting into any weirder of a position. "Eh, I just want a kiss. It ain't proper if I gotta get on top of you and take everything while we're outside and our friends can see us." Kanji laughed as Naoto's face turned beet red.

"Don't say such things!" She quickly sat up and pushed Kanji away, completely off the bench. "We were not even discussing that at all." Even though she was blushing and seemed upset, she couldn't help but smile.

A group of laughter brought them back to the world around them. Kanji looked up from his spot on the ground to see their friends laughing at them. His face turned just as red as Naoto's. "Wha-What the hell you punks lookin' at!?" It only made them laugh more.

Teddie seemed to be especially enjoying himself, as expected. "Is Kanji only a softy in private? He always seems so tough and rough but when he's alone with Naoto he's super nice and gentle. I witnessed it!" He seemed to think for a moment. "Last night, he held her so softly while they slept and when he woke up he was nice to her. But then when I tried to get my good morning smooch he got all rough again."

Kanji stood up as quick as lightning. "Hey. Hey! Didn't I tell you to stay asleep on the floor and be quiet!? I'm gonna kill you, ya stupid bear!" Teddie started running and Kanji chased him. When Teddie jumped in the water, Kanji followed, clothes and all.

The others stayed put, laughing. "Oh man," Chie grabbed her gut. "You guys go from doom and gloom to full of energy after seeing each other for five seconds. Seriously, you guys are pretty damn good for each." Naoto wasn't sure if she saw the three girls look at Souji sadly or if it was just a trick of the eye.

Naoto giggled, her face still redder than Teddie's bear costume. "I-I guess so... He does make me quite happy." _Even though we do have a hard time communicating and we lack proper experience in a relationship, he does take a lot of time out of his day for me and other such things I would consider very nice._ Naoto became so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn't notice the girls talking to her.

Chie, who had taken a seat next to Naoto, poked the girl in her sides. "Hey! Didn't you hear me!?" Naoto looked at Chie like a deer caught in the headlights. "Ugh. I asked you if you're considering marrying Kanji."

Naoto looked confused. "Aren't we a bit young to get married? There's no point in pondering over such a thing."

Rise and Yukiko sat down too. Rise giggled, "Forget about that Chie! Have you guys gone all the way yet? He seemed pretty interested..."

Yukiko gasped. "As indecent as a question that is to ask Naoto, I actually am interested. He was all over you when you were alone at the inn before we came in yesterday. And you had a room to yourselves last night... before we kicked Teddie out..."

Chie groaned. "You guys... Get your heads out of the gutters..."

Naoto blushed and casted her eyes downward. "No. We have not. We weren't really planning to while we were on the trip."

Chie froze. " 'While we were on the trip'!? Does that mean you have plans to later on!? Naoto, I thought you were innocent..."

Rise laughed, while Yukiko had a laughing fit in the background. "Oh, Chie. For someone reprimanding us, you seem really interested."

"Innocent?..." Naoto looked away from her friends again. "Innocent isn't the same as ignorance. I understand what you guys are asking and if I do wish to think that we won't ever break up I'll think like we'll have to eventually." Naoto scowled. "Unless I am completely misunderstanding this. You are asking about taking part in sexual activities for pleasure, right?"

The three other girls blushed. "Geez, Naoto. You have no censor do you?" Yukiko giggled, making Naoto blush too.

"Well if we are going to discuss such topics why censor yourself? It'd be different if we were talking to our guardians but the environment here is casual. So why bother?" The honest girl shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

"That's the Naoto we all know and love. Very smart, very unaware, and very very cute.

* * *

Kanji smiled at Naoto through their helmets. He just pulled his motorcycle around the front of the inn so they could ride back home. He said something Naoto couldn't understand since the wind guard on his helmet was down then bumped his helmet against hers. He pulled his head back and seemed to laugh. The boy took off his helmet and smiled. "Oops. I forgot my helmet was on. Sorry, just wanted a kiss."

Naoto laughed. "It's fine." She took off her helmet just enough to expose her mouth and kissed him. "Let's go. It seems our friends left us behind." None of their friends were in sight anymore. She got on the back of the motorcycle while Kanji put his helmet back on. She held on tight and within minutes they were passing their friends. Before long they were outside of the apartment building that she lived in.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry I completely forgot about writing this fan fiction. I've been so stressed that I forgot to even look at it for two whole weeks. And who knows how long ago I actually posted a chapter. (Lol) Sorry. Sorry. And I completely forgot to post it. -.-'


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